Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Kevin...where are you shopping for Fender's? GC has MIA J basses for around $1K.

So maybe the more important question is where are the $333.33 dollar Rics you have access to?

I'm in a small town in Canada, plenty of mark up when things cross the border, but mainly I find rather worn vintage J's priced well above $3000 Cdn.
Here, a new one is usually around $1800-2000 for a very run of the mill 4 string.

One of my Ricks only cost me $400 Cdn (and the exchange rate was no where near as good as it is now)!

I stand corrected then!

To be honest, I never really considered a new Fender.

There are several Ricks I'd like to have for the same money, so it just never seemed like an option.

I'm totally happy with my Ricks, & the Fender urge never was all that strong.

Up until recently I hadn't seriously considered any Fender at all. Then I played that Custom Shop Jazz I missed (loved it), and then my mate's P Bass...I think a big factor for me was the fact that I found the P so much easier to play fingerstyle, and much preferred its fingerstyle tone to that of any of my Rics. I usually play very little fingerstyle in a band situation as it feels and sounds awkward, but with the P it felt completely natural and I played in a completely different way.

My main band requires a signature tone, and so far that's been a Ric one. But I do other stuff outside and at home; funk, dub etc, and I don't find that sound works particularly well in those situations. I love Chris Squire and Lemmy, but I'd sooner hear Stuart Zender playing funk....

Don't worry about it. Mike Lulls are my main gigging basses, but there's still a place for a Ric in my arsenal.

I have been through quite a few basses over the years. EB0, P copy, Jazz copies from Fernandes and a 5'er from Hohner. I had a Pedulla Pentabuzz, tried an Ibanez for about a day, tried a Rockbass, and 4003. I never did like single coil pups, so the day I got my cii, is the day I found my "old" tone from back in 72, with flats and a humbucker or two, oh, and the SVT! I should mention, I did not play between '76 and 96". The only two basses I owned back in the day were the EBO and the P.....

"I've NEVER found a J bass that I could afford!
I may do what Jeff Rath does & build my own some time, but an authentic MIA Fender is way out of my price range"

I have a beautiful Japanese 62 Jazz reissue and it performs as well as the MIA ones. I am not quite sure where is the MIA fetish originating from, but the fact is that both my Japanese P and J are great basses

Shaun,
You're emails are still getting eaten up somewhere !!

The early '90's P I had was a Japanese bass, & pretty decent, but they're really not my thing I guess (P's, that is).

I am eagerly awaiting a Cii, but in the meantime, I'm getting plenty of bottom from my 06 4003. As far as Fenders are concerned, I have a MIJ Geddy Lee Jazz, and I absolutely love that bass. I think the neck binding has alot to do with it, all my Rics are bound, so it's what I'm used to, hope I take a liking to the 4004, since I've ordered it without ever seeing one in person.

Alan, the 4004 pickups are so different in their tonal spectrum that you may find a total readjustment of your tone settings is in order on your bass amp. I've found that what sounds good with single coils sounds bad with humbuckers, but what sounds good with humbuckers sounds extra crisp and bright with single coils.

Alan - I bought a 4004 sigh-unseen. It was a worthy gamble!

Just have to be aware - it will be bassy, and as Dane said, you will have to tweak the EQ on your amp, and the neck is A LOT different.

"I've purchased five basses in the past year; three rics, a MK Dragonfly (five string fretless, very cool!) "

Jim, I also have the Dragonfly 5 string. Please email me. I would like to talk to you about it.

I agree with Dane. When you first plug a 4004 into your rig after playing a 4003, it sounds like ****!! Set it flat and work your way from there. In my case, I just bumped the mids up a couple notches(Chromes) with the other controls flat.